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QuickBooks is an instantly recognizable name in the world of accountancy and bookkeeping. It’s owned by Intuit, which also has other options for small business owners and large ones too, with a diverse portfolio that includes TurboTax, Mint and Proconnect.

QuickBooks also comes in numerous different varieties, from desktop editions through to the hugely popular Online edition.

There are also regular updates to the QuickBooks portfolio of products, with the UK getting a raft of new features to help users keep abreast of tax and other regulatory changes such as MTD. There's an income tax estimator tool, improved tagging and a beefed up employee portal for larger businesses.

Professional accountants have new tools, including a month-end review tool. QuickBooks is, essentially, always evolving. There's a new QuickBooks Business Account digital payment option aimed at small business owners now too.

So, depending on your requirements, you can choose from QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Self-Employed, QuickBooks Online Advanced, QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, QuickBooks Desktop for Mac, QuickBooks Desktop Pro, QuickBooks Premier and QuickBooks Enterprise. However, it is possible to create a custom package using the help of the QuickBooks team if you need a more bespoke option.

• Want to try QuickBooks? Check out the website here

QuickBooks: Pricing

With such a wide variety of QuickBooks options you’ll find that pricing is similarly expansive and there are often deals to be had too. For example, we've seen deals of 70% for three months, and even up to 90% for six months.

Customers and business owners of all sizes are catered for, starting with the £10+VAT/month Sole Trader plan and £16+VAT/month Simple Start plans.

Larger businesses will more than likely need to upgrade to Essentials (£33+VAT/month), Plus (£47+VAT per month) or Advanced (£115+VAT per month).

Although there's no free plan, there are options to save. For example, you could take out one of QuickBooks' seasonal offers that often give a number of months at a heavily discounted price, or you can sacrifice the longer-term offer by signing up to a month-long trial, after which you'll begin to pay the full price.

Still, to have the option of a whole month's trial is excellent news, and it should give business owners time to fully migrate any data into the MTD-compliant system and tweak settings – many other competitors in this space offer a 14-day trial, if at all.

(Image credit: QuickBooks)FeaturesQuickBooks: Features

QuickBooks covers all the basics across all plans, and because there are no free options, you won't be faced with a highly limited tier.

For example, all subscriptions come with invoice and estimate support, customized reporting and cash flow insights.

You can also capture receipts via the camera on the smartphone, which can then be easily linked to capturing expenses like mileage tracking It also integrates easily with other apps, including PayPal.

In light of changing regulations within the industry both in the UK and globally, QuickBooks will now estimate quarterly taxes, but beware that lower-tier plans lack any advanced invoicing like recurring invoices and project/time tracking.

The higher you go, the more you unlock, beginning with HMRC VAT submissions and multi-user support to employee time tracking and stock tracking.

There's also a payroll add-on for middle tiers and above if you're running a larger business, plus support for multiple users.

(Image credit: QuickBooks)QuickBooks: Performance

Gone are the days of tracking income and expenses locally on spreadsheets, and QuickBooks knows this because its platform is a fully fledged SaaS offering – everything runs through the cloud (securely), which means real-time data syncing and multi-device support.

So far we can report strong stability and responsive workflows, but it's worth noting that lower-tier versions are more lightweight so there's less to go wrong in the first place.

(Image credit: QuickBooks)QuickBooks: Ease of Use

The QuickBooks Online subscription plans have an advantage that they will work on any platform via the browser, and also have integration with the iOS and Android apps for use on a smartphone or tablet.

For those that prefer the downloadable software, it works for both the Windows and macOS, but unfortunately there is no mobile app support.

We love how intuitive the user interface is – new users can take advantage of a pretty simple onboarding process, and there shouldn't be too much of a learning curve when getting used to this particular platform. Unless you want to explore deeper (which you can do when you're ready), the out-of-the-box experience is simple enough for self-employed individuals who might not have as much accounting experience.

Having the backing of one of the industry's giants – Intuit – also means it's one of the first to get more advanced features, including AI which makes analyzing data and creating custom workflows easier.

(Image credit: QuickBooks)QuickBooks: Support

Support has been improved for QuickBooks and it now has a wealth of different options to choose from if you're in need of help.

This includes an online help hub, with lots of documentation, videos and other training resources. There's also a blog, a vibrant community and lots of social media too.

Depending on your package level, you might also have access to a professional advisor. All tiers get free customer support and free onboarding, too, which goes some way towards bridging the gap between non-human software and a fully human accountant.

(Image credit: QuickBooks)QuickBooks: Final Verdict

For a small business without a dedicated accounting department, or even a sole accountant, QuickBooks offers an attractive solution to managing the finances because it's both simple to use and packed with powerful financial features.

The fundamental bookkeeping ingredients are all here, covering invoices, payroll, estimates, employee time tracking, sales tax, inventory tracking, and is able to sync bank transactions. The online versions clearly have a better set of features than the downloadable version.

Our concern is that this full feature set comes at a higher price than some competitors, which include FreshBooks, Xero, Sage Business Cloud Accounting, Kashoo, Zoho Books and Kashflow to name just a few. A basic, free tier wouldn't go amiss for smaller-scale self-employed operations.

Compounding this issue is that as the additional services such as payroll and time tracking are added on to the base package, the costs go up even higher. While a seriously cash-strapped business may be better off looking elsewhere for more of a value bookkeeping solution, for the small business that can make use of the wide range of available bookkeeping features, QuickBooks via the online subscription remains an attractive and comprehensive choice.

Read our review of QuickBooks Online here

Read our review of QuickBooks Desktop Pro here

• We've also highlighted the best accounting software in this roundup

Sage is the British company that has been offering accountancy software solutions for many years. The business currently offers Sage Intacct and Sage50 Accounting under its umbrella Sage Business Cloud Accounting, which offers the flexibility and dependable edge provided by an online solution. 

Due to its size and breadth of appeal, the Sage product range can tend to be a little bewildering. For example, Sage One has now morphed into a beefier package that differs from Sage’s 50cloud option. However, the most obvious benefit of Sage Business Cloud Accounting in whichever bundle you choose, is that you gain the flexibility and scalability provided by having a cloud back-end.

Sage is constantly evolving too, with the UK market having its own products dedicated to small business including specific accounting, payroll and HR packages. Equally, Sage also covers the medium-sized business arena with the aforementioned Sage Intacct, Sage200cloud and the more specialised cloud-based ERP Sage X3. Professional accountants and bookkeepers are, of course, also catered for with partner accounting and payroll options with an increasing focus on automation.

Competitor software services worth considering include QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, Kashflow and FreshBooks. 

• Want to try Sage Business Cloud Accounting? Check out the website here

Sage: Pricing

If you like the look of the most recent edition of Sage Business Cloud Accounting then the good news is that there’s a free trial available. This is a great way of experiencing the cloud-based accountancy service head on.

A broad range of packages fall under Sage's 'Accounting' umbrella, starting with Accounting Individual Free. It serves as a basic bookkeeping service for managing income and expenses and generating a self-employed tax summary.

Self-employed workers can upgrade to Accounting Individual, which adds support for sales invoices, bank account connections, 10GB of document storage and more. It costs £7+VAT per month.

For larger registered businesses, there are three separate tiers: Accounting Start (£18+VAT per month), Accounting Standard (£39+VAT per month) and Accounting Plus (£59+VAT per month).

There are also separate packages for Payroll and HR, as well as a more comprehensive suite under the Sage 50 brand which offers payment processing, automation and budgeting.

You can easily connect your bank accounts to Sage Business Cloud Accounting (Image credit: Image Credit: Sage)Sage: Features

Sage Business Cloud Accounting gets regular updates and its latest version is perfect for small businesses that need a relatively straightforward solution that ticks all the boxes.

Once you’re signed up Sage Business Cloud Accounting lets you tackle accounting, but it’ll also simplify sales tracking, reporting and pull contact together.

You’ll be able to accept and receive payments, create and send invoices as well as stay on top of bookkeeping chores all within the space of a cloud-based service.

The additional benefit of Sage Business Cloud Accounting is that it lets you enjoy the same powerful features on your computer, tablet or phone. That way you’re on top of your accounting no matter where you happen to be.

It's worth noting that Sage offers slightly different variants of its accounting software for different regions – and that's a good thing because the company is clearly willing to tailor its products to different tax scenarios and setups to help users get the most out of Sage.

Users in the UK get a variation on the theme. Sage offers small businesses an Accounting package, which lets you handle invoicing, cash flow, tax, payments and more. It also has a Payroll option, which allows you to pay up to 50 employees and is fully HRMC-compliant.

Sage even takes care of HR issues with its refreshed Sage HR package, which used to be called CakeHR. It is a constantly evolving picture to stay in line with new rules and regulations, along with the changing face of business.

Although setups differ regionally, Sage specializes in areas like invoicing and quote generation, expense management, reporting and forecasting, inventory management and bank feed monitoring.

Sage also works with third-party systems, besides its own ecosystem, like Xero or QuickBooks, which makes managing larger businesses or migrating from other platforms far easier.

Sage: Performance

Sage has been around long enough to realize the potential of offering a product that can be used by the many and varied users that need accountancy solutions. As a result, there are versions available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad plus the web-based edition for anyone with access to a browser.

As you’d expect from a cloud-based solution, it depends on an internet connection but all data is stored in the cloud. Sage delivers a reliable service in that respect and the performance has been carefully honed over the years to help you enjoy a pretty decent experience.

The reporting and core accounting modules are generally solid, though users sometimes note that they're not designed for heavy customization or complex workflows. Still, if you're a bigger business with more complex demands, you should be able to benefit from one of Sage's higher-tier platform subscriptions.

Sage: Ease of Use

Sage Business Cloud Accounting is quite a dry experience in that it’s less easy on the eyes, but certainly offers a comprehensive suite of features and functions. Consider it generally dated or utilitarian, but it's far from lacking in features.

If you’re a newcomer to its functionality then you might find it a little hard going as there’s quite a lot to get through during initial setup. This is done via a Getting Started screen, which incidentally can be switched off if preferred.

You can, of course, import a lot of your data or pull it in from integrations, as well as connect to your financial institutions, which means that most of your accounting figures will self-populate the various categories.

Some of the workflows, such as expense tracking, can be slightly less intuitive than we'd hoped, so it can take more clicks than you'd expect to get simple, administrative and repetitive data logged.

Nevertheless, there is still quite a lot to digest within the Sage Business Cloud Accounting interface, though once you’ve become familiar with it progress is much more streamlined.

Sage has done an impressive job at shoehorning the same experience into its mobile apps too, with iPhone and Android experiences surprisingly good. You can even get it for the Apple Watch, though we can't imagine users getting any real benefit out of that.

The Sage Business Cloud Accounting layout is functional but lacks the flair of other cloud-based options (Image credit: Sage)Sage: Support

You’ll find plenty of options available to you if you need to call upon some support, and that's partly because you're dealing with a highly established, big player in the space. Sage has got this aspect of its business down to a fine art, with email, phone and also live support options all available.

For ongoing issues that can’t be resolved with a quick answer then there is also the provision for raising support tickets, whereby your query will be put into a queuing system and hopefully resolved as quickly as possible.

You also get the benefit of a healthy community spirit within the world of Sage, while easily accessed and comprehensive FAQs also get to the bottom of many everyday questions and quandaries.

Support comes in a range of options including a powerful knowledge base for FAQs (Image credit: Sage)Sage: Final verdict

Sage Cloud Business Accounting has been a reliable option for quite some time and proves consistently popular with many sole traders and smaller businesses. It's packed with most of the features that you'd likely to need, but we'd like to see future generations of Sage's tools look slightly more polished.

Some elements of the workflow seem unduly labored and with missing features such as time tracking and payroll options Sage Cloud Business Accounting is at risk from the competition. While everyone might instantly know the name of Sage this cloud-based accountancy solution doesn’t satisfy in quite the same way as something like QuickBooks Online.

We find the lowest tier, while well priced, somewhat limiting, and only useful for a true micro business. On the other hand, the upper tier is quite a bit more capable, and the 50cloud variant has deep integration with Microsoft365, although the cost rises considerably from the lowest plan. For a medium to larger small business, without dedicated accounting resources, these higher plans become an affordable solution.

To this remark, we think the multiple levels of subscriptions can become complicated, and because lower-tier memberships are more limited, businesses could be compelled to upgrade without fully understanding which tier they need. A quick chat with customer services could help them figure this out, though.

• We've also highlighted the best accounting software in this roundup 

We got to test drive Antigravity's A1 drone, billed as the world's first drone built to capture 360-degree video.

• A collection of new leaked DJI Mini 5 Pro photos has been released
• “C0” sticker suggests it will be the first sub-249g drone with a 1-inch sensor
• Battery appears to be the same as that used by DJI Mini 4 Pro and Mini 3 Pro

A new set of leaked photos of the DJI Mini 5 Pro have arrived, bringing with them a whole heap of new information about the upcoming ultra-lightweight drone.

Following on from the leaked render and specs that emerged earlier this month, this set of photos, shared on X (formerly Twitter) and DroneXL by trusted drone tipster Jasper Ellens, appear to show the actual drone itself from a variety of angles.

Some exclusive new pictures from my friends today. Revealing multiple secrets on the #Mini5Pro. It seems DJI managed to pull off the unthinkable: a sub 249 gram #C0 consumer 1 inch camera drone. They actually made it happen! Cheers Jasperhttps://t.co/OOUwzGuLGCAugust 13, 2025

These new views of the DJI Mini 5 Pro appear to reveal a few key details about the drone, such as the fact that it’ll use the exact same batteries as the Mini 4 Pro and Mini 3 Pro – great news for people who already own one or both of those models.

More exciting, though, is the presence of a “C0” class sticker on the bottom of the drone. Assuming this is real, it’s confirmation that the Mini 5 Pro will still weigh less than 250g.

While this couldn’t be called surprising news – after all, sub-250g weight has long been one of the key selling points of the Mini series – it’s great to see that the Mini 5 Pro’s purported new features like LiDAR and a camera with a 1-inch sensor haven’t tipped it into the C1 class.

Personally, I see getting a 1-inch sensor on a sub-250g drone as a huge achievement for DJI; having DJI Air-levels of imaging performance on a drone that can be flown with far less fuss, at least here in the UK where I live, makes it a truly exciting prospect.

If the leaked info turns out to be correct, I can definitely see the DJI Mini 5 Pro being my next go-to drone for day-to-day aerial photography and videography.

Secret button?

(Image credit: DJI)

One last intriguing detail from the new leaks is the presence of what looks like a small button on the side of the drone.

What this might do remains a mystery, but one potential theory is that it will launch the drone when there’s no controller present. This could give it similar selfie shooting capabilities to the DJI Flip or DJI Neo, allowing users to unfold it, launch it from their hand to take a quick clip or photo before having it return automatically – no controller or even smartphone required.

With these latest pieces of info added to what we’ve already heard, we can now build up a pretty clear image of how the Mini 5 Pro might look spec-wise.

• DJI Mini 5 Pro rumored specs
• 1-inch image sensor supporting up to 4K 120fps video
• 24mm lens with f/1.8 aperture
• 48mm medium telephoto shooting mode
• Gimbal supporting 225º movement, including vertical shooting
• Forward-facing LiDAR and omnidirectional infrared vision sensors
• 36-minute battery life

That’s an impressive set of specs for a small folding drone, and I’m very much looking forward to getting confirmation when DJI finally gets around to officially launching the Mini 5 Pro.

Rumor has it this will be happening in September 2025, which is getting nearer and nearer. Check back for more news in the coming weeks.

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• Football Manager 26 has been announced with a Match Day teaser trailer
• The footage provides our first look at the game running on the Unity engine
• Football Manager 26's announcement comes after the cancellation of Football Manager 25

Sega and Sports Interactive have unveiled the first look at Football Manager 26, showcasing the game running on the Unity engine.

Following the cancellation of Football Manager 25, the sports series has made a surprise return with the announcement of Football Manager 26 in a short trailer teasing a 'Match Day first look' coming soon.

The trailer features live-action scenes filmed of the Match Day experience through the lens of the official Premier League license, but also provides a first look at some rendered footage running on the Unity engine.

However, the video does note that "actual game footage - not final".

In a press release, Sega said, "FM26 promises to take players on a journey to define their footballing destiny with our most immersive and visually rich Football Manager experience yet. The potential for storytelling is redefined by taking players closer to the heart of the beautiful game."

A website is also live, displaying the announcement trailer and text that reads, "Back. Better. Building for the season ahead. FM26 Match Day First Look. Coming Soon."

There's no release date just yet, but Sega has previously revealed in its internal sales showing its launch roadmap that it has plans to release FM26 in Fall 2025.

Understandably, fans of the series are excited about the announcement, as evident by the replies to the X / Twitter post, now that there's confirmation that FM26 hasn't been canned, just like FM25.

Football Manager 25 was canceled in February after it was delayed twice, with Sports Interactive stating that it "hasn't achieved what we set out to do."

At the time, the developer said it couldn't release the game in its current state and would "shift our focus to the next release."

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Zoho Books is just one small part of a much greater business concern based in India that offers all manner of software for anyone and everyone. With its clean and simple cloud-based interface Zoho Books makes a great cost-effective accounting option if you’re a freelancer, sole trader or someone running a small business.

The benefit with Zoho Books is that it’s also quite scalable, so therefore offers beefier versions for those with larger business concerns, or anyone intent on expanding their operations. While the desktop route is a solid one, Zoho Books also has an impressive app presence, making it a good mobile bet too especially if you're constantly on the move.

It's a tax and accountancy software package that sits alongside the likes of competitors FreshBooks, QuickBooks, Xero, Sage Business Cloud Accounting, Kashoo and Kashflow.

Zoho Books: Pricing

Zoho Books has, it explains, a pricing plan for everyone and the service has actually become a little cheaper than it used to be for each of the current packages

It all starts with the Free plan, which includes access for one account holder and another accountant. It, along with the paid plans, has its own restrictions, for example you won't be able to use more than 1,000 invoices or 1,000 expenses within a year.

Standard costs £12 per organization per month, with space for up to three accounts holders, more invoices and expenses, recurring expenses and invoice generation without Zoho's branding.

Professional (£24), Premium (£30), Elite (£99) and Ultimate (£199) plans are also available, raising the limits even further and adding in features like multi-currency invoicing, vendor management, purchase orders and stock tracking.

Incidentally, sign up to pay annually rather than monthly and savings can be made on all packages. Zoho does offer additional add-ons, more about which you can glean from its website.

Zoho Books: Features

Zoho Books might be an affordable cloud-based accountancy solution, but that doesn't make it any less feature-laden. In fact, taking a tour of the package we found that it has a pretty formidable arsenal of tools and options.

That includes invoicing estimating, a client portal, the ability to track expenses, carry out billing, track your banking movements, manage projects and keep an eye on your levels of inventory.

Sales orders, purchase orders, VAT and online payments are all in there too, making Zoho Books fully featured by anyone's standards. Adding additional value is a solid reporting area, the ability to automate your workflow and, finally, enjoy the convenience of having all your documents stored in one place.

Most importantly for upcoming regulations, all plans can submit MTD-complaint VAT returns directly to HMRC, with MTD compliance also available for Income Tax via quarterly updates and SA103 summary reports.

The reality is that the Free package contains most of the features self-employed individuals are likely to need, so anything included in paid plans is either a bonus or designed for larger companies operating six-figure incomes (or at least high-two-figure turnovers).

Zoho also offers a broad spectrum of integrations, such as with PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, Mailchimp, Office 365, Slack and more, as well as its own comprehensive range of products.

(Image credit: Zoho Books)Zoho Books: Performance

During our time using Zoho Books we found the software-as-a-service solution excellent. There are a lot of tabs, menus and other options available and, with a decent internet connection, we could zip around the site without any issues whatsoever.

Connecting to financial institutions, which you’ll want to do to bulk up the appeal of your accountancy package, is fast and efficient.

There’s also the capacity for using any one of many Zoho add-ons to increase the potential of your package. These can be found via the Integrations menu. Performance is further boosted if you choose to dip into the Automation area of the interface, which Zoho Books provides to streamline workflow more efficiently.

Automations can cover recurring expenses, invoices, or bills; convert quotes to invoices; send out payment reminders and trigger workflows to help you keep tabs on your progress, so with the right setup, you can have an extremely powerful ecosystem that does the heavy lifting for you.

In addition, items called Web Tabs add extra usability within the interface if you want to create and use them to access frequently called-upon features and functions.

Zoho Books: Ease of use

Setting up Zoho Books could not be simpler. As with all cloud-based services you’ll need to create an account, pick a password and then work your way through the steps. Input your organization’s details, opt in or out of VAT and then pick down through the features checklist. These can be enabled either on or off depending on what suits your needs.

We think Zoho does a sterling job of making what can be a tedious and complex task relatively simple, and that's largely thanks to its uncluttered user interface and strong explanations.

Usefully, Invoices, Credit Notes, Expenses, Bills, Recurring Invoices and more are available by default in Zoho Books. Press the ‘Get Started’ button and you’ll be read to go. Once you’re inside the dashboard area everything is very self-explanatory, with core menus down the left-hand side and more along the top. Another bonus with Zoho Books is the extensive list of available templates for creating everything from invoices through to customer statements and all points in-between.

The mobile apps score well for usability and functionality, but more importantly they look great which takes some of the stress and dread away for new users who might be struggling to get their head around MTD requirements.

Still, it can sometimes feel a bit disjointed jumping between different apps, portals and websites to access different areas of Zoho's ecosystem if you're using more than just Books.

Zoho Books: Support

Zoho Books comes complete with its own free support infrastructure, which arrives via numerous avenues. There’s 24-hour unlimited support 5 days a week and this can be accessed via email, or by using the built-in live chat options. Failing that, Zoho Books issues can be tackled over the phone via a toll free hotline.

Note that free plans only get reduced email support.

We’re also impressed with the beefy selection of supporting options that can be found via the website. There’s help documentation, FAQs, business guides and forums too, which all add extra weight to the overall support structure.

Zoho Books: Final verdict

Zoho Books is a fine pay-as-you-go cloud-based accounting option that provides you with many if not all of the tools you’ll need to keep your business accounts in good shape. While the cloud-based desktop route is a great one to take we’re also really impressed with the level of detail applied to Zoho Books range of apps. These have been nicely put together and deliver everything you need to keep tabs on your accounts on the move.

The ecosystem represents outstanding value for money already, but when you combine it with other apps in Zoho's ecosystem, you begin to unlock mighty interoperability that could really improve administrative productivity.

We also like the way that Zoho seems more than amenable to helping you scale your accounting package too, with larger users being encouraged to contact the company in order to get a solution more accurately tailored to their needs. However, as it stands in any of the more off-the-shelf guises Zoho Books still has plenty to commend.

• We've also highlighted the best accounting software

• YouTube has officially rolled out age verification checks to US users
• The service will use AI to determine your age
• If it detects you're under 18, you'll have to verify your age by submitting a credit card or government ID

YouTube has officially launched its AI-based age checks in the US, following the introduction of online age verification checks in the UK, which aim to shield young people from viewing adult content. Since its widespread rollout came into effect, it’s been met with a slew of backlash, and users are furious.

The main reason why users are concerned with YouTube’s new age check process is down to the age-estimation model itself, which the company announced will "use AI to interpret a variety of signals that help us to determine whether a user is over or under 18". But how will it work?

YouTube’s AI model will use ‘signals’ to detect whether a user is under or over the age of 18, which include the longevity of the account, the types of videos a user searches for, and the categories of videos they’ve already watched.

If YouTube detects you’re underage, it will restrict your account by disabling personalized advertising, turning on digital wellbeing tools, and limiting repetitive views of some kinds of content, despite the age you’ve set on your account. If you’re falsely estimated to be under 18, you’ll have to verify your age by submitting a credit card or government ID.

YouTube hasn't stated how this AI model will receive data from those trying to verify their age, nor how the data will be stored, which has sparked fears of possible data leaks.

Widespread frustration

Although it’s early days into YouTube’s new AI age checks, users are already taking measures to stop them. On Tuesday, a Change.org petition was published and has grown exponentially, reaching over 90,000 signatures so far.

The petition reads "this isn’t just about age restriction – it’s about mass surveillance and data control", but that’s not the only reason why users are angry. One Reddit post has sparked widespread conversation about YouTube’s new age checks, garnering 1.8k responses.

Oh my GOD, it's happening from r/youtube

Aside from data control concerns, the question as to whether YouTube is a host for ‘real’ adult content is another conversation furious users are having (see below). This was also raised when Spotify introduced its face-scanning age checks in the UK, another service that - despite not hosting X-rated content - hosts podcasts that may be deemed of mature nature.

Comment from r/youtube

While YouTube is very much on it with flagging adult-leaning content, this can affect videos such as movie and game trailers, which are watched by users of all ages. With the new age checks in place, some content in this category won’t be available to watch if you haven’t logged in, as one user has shared.

Comment from r/youtube

How do you feel about YouTube’s new age verification checks? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

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• Proton said the company has begun moving some of its physical infrastructure out of Switzerland for fear of the new proposed surveillance law
• Lumo, the company's newly launched privacy-first AI chatbot, is the first product to move
• An amendment to the current surveillance law would require VPNs and messaging apps to identify and retain user data

Proton has confirmed the company has begun moving out of Switzerland due to "legal uncertainty" over the newly proposed surveillance law.

Proton's newly launched privacy-first AI chatbot, Lumo, has become the first product to change home yet, "investing in Europe does not equate to leaving Switzerland," a company spokesperson told TechRadar, amid rumors it's exiting the country for good.

The firm behind one of the best VPN and encrypted email services has been very critical of the Swiss government’s proposed amendment of its surveillance law since the beginning, already sharing plans to quit Switzerland back in May.

If it passes, the Ordinance on the Surveillance of Correspondence by Post and Telecommunications (OSCPT) will introduce new obligations for virtual private networks (VPNs), messaging apps, and social networks. These measures include mandatory user identification and data retention of up to six months for all services with at least 5,000 users. Providers will also be required to decrypt the communication upon the authorities' request should they own encryption keys.

Lumo – the first to go

(Image credit: Proton)

Proton launched its ChatGPT competitor, Lumo, in July 2025, to give its users an alternative to Big Tech solutions that truly protect their privacy.

In a blog post about the launch, Proton's Head of Anti-Abuse and Account Security, Eamonn Maguire, explains that the company has decided to invest outside Switzerland for fear of the looming legal changes.

He wrote: "Because of legal uncertainty around Swiss government proposals to introduce mass surveillance – proposals that have been outlawed in the EU – Proton is moving most of its physical infrastructure out of Switzerland. Lumo will be the first product to move."

Talking to a Swiss publication after the launch, Proton's CEO Andy Yen confirmed that the proposed changes to the Swiss surveillance law made the company opt for Germany instead to host Lumo's servers. Proton has also confirmed it's also developing facilities in Norway.

While the company did not specify that Germany would become the new home of the majority of its infrastructure, Proton confirmed to TechRadar that investing in Europe doesn't equate to leaving Switzerland.

It's worth noting, however, that being based in the EU could make Proton, and similar companies, vulnerable to wider data retention or scanning obligations if proposals like the so-called ProtectEU or Chat Control were to pass.

We approached Proton for clarification on this point, but are still waiting for a reply at the time of publication.

What's next for the Swiss tech privacy industry?

Proton isn't the only provider that has been vocal against what critics have deemed Switzerland's "war against online anonymity."

Another VPN provider, NymVPN, confirmed back in May its intentions to leave Switzerland if the new surveillance rules are enforced.

Talking to TechRadar, Nym's co-founder and COO, Alexis Roussel, shares support for Proton's decision to find a new home for its private AI chatbot.

He said, "Proton is in a position that they are expanding, so it totally makes sense. You cannot invest in privacy in Switzerland right now."

Roussel also confirmed to TechRadar that the company has already developed a strategy to move its VPN activities outside Switzerland and the EU. Yet, this remains the last resort.

He also explains that the fact that Nym works on a decentralised infrastructure means that it won't be affected by the encryption provision, as the company doesn't hold any encryption keys.

"Depending on how they modify things within the law, this will affect our decision to move. But we would like to resist the ordinance until the end and go to the tribunal," said Roussel.

As reported by Cyberinsider, also secure and private messaging app Session said that, "while keeping a close eye on the situation," its decentralized structure means its services are less vulnerable to the changes.

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• The iPhone 17 Pro will reportedly cost $50 more than the iPhone 16 Pro
• However, it's also said to start with twice as much storage
• Based on this and other leaks, we've predicted pricing for every iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max configuration

It’s now looking very likely that the iPhone 17 series – and in particular the iPhone 17 Pro – will cost more than the iPhone 16 series, with the latest leak pointing to a $50 price increase for the iPhone 17 Pro.

This tip comes from leaker Instant Digital (via MacRumors), and they’ve actually made the same iPhone 17 Pro price rise claim before. So, they're just reiterating it here, but this shows that they’re still confident in its accuracy. It’s not all bad news, either, as Instant Digital additionally states that there won’t be a 128GB model, so you’ll be getting 256GB for your money instead.

At $50 more than the current 128GB iPhone 16 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro would start at $1,049, but again, that’s with 256GB of storage, and since the 256GB iPhone 16 Pro costs $1,099, that could actually be seen as a price decrease for the iPhone 17 Pro – at least for anyone who wants 256GB.

Predicting the other prices

This gives us some indication of what the other models and configurations might cost, but the same source (and others) have previously said to expect a $50 price increase across the board.

In which case, assuming the iPhone 17 Pro is the only phone to be getting a storage bump, prices might look like what you can see in the chart below.

Storage

iPhone 17

iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone 17 Pro Max

128GB

$849

N/A

N/A

256GB

$949

$1,049

$1,249

512GB

$1,149

$1,349

$1,449

1TB

N/A

$1,549

$1,649

Note that we haven’t included the iPhone 17 Air since this is a totally new model, so there’s no price history to work with. Mind you, there's a good chance that it'll have a similar price to the iPhone 16 Plus – or perhaps cost $50 more, in line with what we’re hearing about the other iPhone 17 models.

In any case, we’d take all of this with a pinch of salt, but with Trump’s tariffs increasing production costs, it seems likely that the iPhone 17 series will cost more than the current models anyway.

We should find out in September, with leaks suggesting September 9 could be the date when Apple will announce the iPhone 17 series.

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Hundreds of former air force reservists and pilots join a chorus of defense establishment figures calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.

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• Razer's Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC has been released, an evolution of the Wolverine V3 Pro controller
• The controller features Razer’s 8000 Hz HyperPolling tech, which is also offered in Razer's impressive Viper 8K gaming mouse, for the best input response
• A Razer Wolverine V3 Tournament Edition 8K PC is also available for purchase

Razer has announced the launch of its Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC, a next-generation controller built specifically for PC gaming and featuring new improvements.

As the next evolution of the Wolverine V3 Pro controller, this latest model features Razer’s 8000 Hz HyperPolling technology for both wired and wireless gaming, which should offer an impressive "near-instantaneous" input response for first-person shooter (FPS) gaming.

This tech was also present in Razer's excellent Viper 8K gaming mouse, one of the fastest, most responsive gaming mice TechRadar has ever seen.

The Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC also offers TMR (Tunnel Magnetoresistance) Thumbsticks with swappable caps and provides anti-drift performance and long-lasting durability, which is a must for pinpoint accuracy in FPS games.

It's also Razer's lightest wireless esports controller to date, featuring an ergonomic shape that reduces hand fatigue during long gaming sessions, four mouse click back buttons, and two claw grip bumpers that are fully remappable, Razer Pro HyperTriggers, and more.

The controller also comes packaged with a carrying case and a 2m braided cable for portability.

"PC gamers have long demanded a controller that doesn’t compromise on speed, precision, or customization," said Nick Bourne, head of mobile and console division at Razer. "With the Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC, we’ve delivered exactly that — a controller built specifically for the PC ecosystem.

"From the industry’s fastest polling rate to our lightest wireless form factor, this is the definitive device for competitive PC players who want every advantage."

Razer is also launching the Razer Wolverine V3 Tournament Edition 8K PC, a wired variant offering the aforementioned features "designed for players who demand uncompromising performance and zero-latency input."

"Engineered with the same elite-level features as its wireless counterpart, the Tournament Edition delivers precision and responsiveness through a direct wired connection, making it the ideal choice for competitive gamers," Razer said.

The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC is now available for purchase at $199.99 / £179.99 GBP, while the Razer Wolverine V3 Tournament Edition 8K PC will cost $119.99 / £99.99 GBP.

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• Universal Print anywhere, or pull printing, is now generally available for Microsoft 365
• Users authenticate print jobs when they arrive at their chosen printer
• It avoids privacy blunders and waste from duplicates

Microsoft has released 'Universal Print anywhere' for all Microsoft 365 organizations at no extra cost, all in a bid to improve security by avoiding erroneous prints to wrong locations.

The company's Nishant Lakhanpal explained in a blog post that users can "print securely from any location and retrieve their documents at any printer" – a feature which has become known as 'pull print'.

It means that users will have to authorize print jobs once they arrive at their chosen printer, meaning important or private documents won't automatically print and end up in unwanted hands.

Microsoft brings pull printing to all eligible users

The feature works by sending print jobs without selecting a specific printer in advance, so documents can be retrieved from any registered corporate printer by authenticating on the device. It also saves users from having to trawl through long printer lists to find the right printer – which often leads to mistakes.

"Universal Print anywhere ensures that confidential documents are never left on printers for unauthorized viewing," Lakhanpal wrote.

Apart from the security benefits, Microsoft also notes that pull printing helps to reduce waste by avoiding duplicate printing caused by forgotten or uncollected print jobs.

"The feature is included with your existing Universal Print licensing at no additional cost," Microsoft confirmed.

Handily, Universal Print anywhere works across Windows and macOS platforms, meaning that all employees can use the functionality without being bound to Microsoft's own operating system. To participate with Universal Print anywhere, admins must register printers to the network.

Looking ahead, Microsoft has also committed to extending Universal Print anywhere to even more OEMs to ensure maximum device compatibility and support.

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• Windows 10 has a new update for August
• It rolls out the offer of extended support until October 2026 to everyone
• Microsoft has also fixed a bug that caused the sign-up process to crash

Windows 10's latest update is an important one in terms of the impending End of Life for the operating system, as it rolls out the offer of extended support (beyond October 2025) to all users – and fixes a bug that meant some people weren't able to successfully sign up for said offer.

Windows Latest noticed that the August update for Windows 10 (known as KB5063709) brings in the Extended Security Updates (ESU) option for everyone.

Some folks (a minority) have already had the ESU offer – which appears in the Windows Update panel – with a previous update, but the KB5063709 patch brings it to all Windows 10 PCs ahead of the October deadline for support ending.

For some of those who have already seen the ESU option, though – which fires up an enrollment wizard that facilitates signing up – there was a frustrating bug that meant the process didn't work.

As Windows Latest points out, that wizard was crashing (either immediately, or partway through the process) for some Windows 10 users, leaving them rather bewildered as to how they were going to get their extended support sorted.

However, we're told that Microsoft has resolved this issue with the August update, just in time for the wider rollout of the ESU.

Analysis: Wizard mended

(Image credit: Getty Images)

So, if you've previously tried to enroll for extended support using the ESU wizard in Windows Update but it was crashing – either becoming unresponsive, or bombing out entirely – try again after installing this new patch for Windows 10, an you should be okay, fingers crossed.

And if you've never seen the ESU offer and you were wondering where on earth it was, then check back in Windows Update after applying the August update. You should see the offer of extended support on the right-hand side of the Windows Update panel.

To remind you, there are a few choices as to how you can sign up for the ESU program, one of which is to pay $30 for the extra year of support it grants (through to October 2026). If you'd prefer to get extended support for free, you can do so using another choice, namely syncing your PC's settings to OneDrive (not your files, note – just the settings). A third option is to spend 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, if you have that many.

It's also worth remembering that you'll need a Microsoft account to sign up for the ESU program.

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• Mimecast uncovers phishing campaign targeting the UK Home Office
• Accounts are being stolen through phishing emails and fake websites
• The fake sites are almost indistinguishable

A phishing campaign has been uncovered by Mimecast researchers targeting the Home Office Sponsorship Management System (SMS).

The main aim of the campaign appear to be to compromise access to accounts, which can then be sold on the dark web, extorting organizations through the theft of sensitive data, and creating fraudulent Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS).

The campaign doesn’t just affect organizations with sponsor license privileges, but threatens to undermine the entire UK immigration system.

UK Home Office at risk

The attackers begin the campaign by sending emails that closely resemble legitimate emails distributed by the Home Office, using the same branding and stylization. The emails include an urgent call to action that threatens account suspension if the user doesn’t log in.

The victims are guided to a fake login page via a captcha-gated URL that looks very similar to the legitimate URL used by the Home Office. After completing the captcha, the user lands on a cloned Home Office login page.

The only differences between the legitimate and illegitimate pages are in the form submission. The fake page directs credentials to an attacker-controlled script, where the exposed credentials can be used to log in to the victims account.

With the stolen accounts, the attackers can then create fake job offers and visa sponsorship schemes, and charge victims tens of thousands of pounds to access them.

The best protection against phishing campaigns such as this one is constant vigilance. Always double check URLs and be cautious of urgent calls to action.

A full list of the indicators from this phishing campaign can be found on the Mimecast blog.

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The iPhone 17 isn't expected to launch in September, but the iPhone 16E is available right now. We can help you decide whether you should wait for the iPhone 17 or not.

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